Tanya Hostler – Ward 25 candidate
What key issues define your campaign platform?
My priorities if I were elected City Councillor for Ward 25 would be:
- to ensure that any new real estate development be compatible with the existing character of the neighbourhood and so limited to low/mid-rise, high end townhomes/condos such as the ones that exist in the neighbourhood, selectively located, that would enhance rather than detract from the community and not encroach unduly on our well-used parks;
- to decrease rush hour gridlock (see below) and to ensure that expensive regional transit plans for subways and LRTs be funded by senior governments off the income tax base;
- to work with the city to reduce wasteful spending and inefficiency where possible to prevent further increases to taxes and user fees which hurt everyone – homeowners and tenants alike.
Why are you the best candidate for this position?
I am not the most experienced, best connected or best financed candidate. However, according to the City of Toronto Financial Information Returns, from the period 2000-2008, the City of Toronto’s operating budget has gone from $6 billion to $9 billion, capital expenditures have risen from $1 billion to $2 billion, and debt has gone from $1 billion to almost $4 billion, while the population only rose 17 per cent. I can say that I was not in council or working at city hall while this happened. Some people might think that makes me a better candidate.
What specifically do you plan to do for your ward, if elected?
Specific plans of mine are:
- to protect the existing character of the neighbourhood from the encrochment of incompatible development
- to work with neighbouring Wards 24, 33 and 34 to add increased commuter parking on the Richmond Hill Go train line (Oriole, Old Cummer) and Sheppard subway line (Fairview Mall, Leslie and Sheppard), to decrease rush-hour gridlock;
- to overhaul the Don Mills and Locke public libraries to better serve the needs of the community;
- to ensure that parks and recreational infrastructure is properly maintained, whether it is a tennis park, a pool or the bike path from Edwards Gardens to Sunnybrook.
Personal bio:
I have lived in Ward 25 for the past ten years, and Toronto all my life, except during law school. For six years, I worked as a corporate finance analyst at the Ontario Financing Authority, including two years as Senior Economic Advisor to the Ontario Ministry of Finance, Provincial-Local Funding Division, which also administers property tax policy. Previously I worked in the investment industry and government policy. After the OFA, I wrote an epic novel (unpublished). Recently, I resigned from a short-term contract at Fed Dev Ontario, which provides federal funding for municipal infrastructure projects, to run for council.
Who do you plan to support for mayor?
No comment.
